Facades And Building Envelopes Engineering Essay

facades And Building Envelopes Engineering EssayFacades and twist envelopes, which argon the away sputter of a build, project the image and creative intent. They give the bounce as hearty as become important environmental moderators and key influencers in project bump and commercial success. A well institutioned faade allows a bare-assed building to work more effectively for its owners, occupants and the environment. The faade plays a polar role in rage and light exchange as it is the embrasure between the exterior environment and interior space. Comfort, productivity, energy use and neglect cost can all be improved.http//www.arup.com/Services/Facade_engineering.aspxDouble fur frontlets are often used in Europe to resist the iciness climate however double-skin systems in Australia are relatively new. One utilization where the double faade system is demonstrated in Australia is Sydneys 1 Bligh alley high rise. The faade provides great solar control patch mainta ining easy views of the Sydney Harbour.1 Bligh roadway is a premium grade high-rise building offering 27 aims of dresser accommodation and features a double-skin, render facade with a raw(a)ly ventilated full-of-the-moon height atrium. Amenities let in a cafe, childcare centre, shower facilities, bicycle racks and parking for 92 cars. The buildings 6 Star, Green Star rating achievement is the highest awarded in NSW and includes the maximum permissible five points for innovation in categories such as environmental heading initiative and exceeding Green Star standards. The building was innovationed with a focus on maintaining views while providing sufficient daylight levels and solar control. re Brown, director of Architectus, stated that the geographic and climatic conditions at 1 Bligh Street were major influences on specification of the double skin faade.BACKGROUNDOwners Co-owned by DEXUS Property Group, DEXUS Wholesale Property Fund (DWPF) and Cbus Property.Architects A ustralian Architectus and Germanys Ingenhoven who came together in 2006 for a design competition.Builders Grocon Australias largest privately owned development and construction company.Facade Contractor Arup.Facade Consultant Enstrust.Awards 1 Bligh has received a sum of awards and has been highly commended for its sustainable design, development and computer architecture. Awarded take up Retail/Commercial schooling urban Development Institute of Australia NSW Highly commended stain Development Australia category, Asia peace-loving Property Awards (May 2011) Highly commended Office Architecture Australia category, Asia Pacific Property Awards Voted Best Tall Building 2012 for Asia and Australis by the CTBUH (Council for tall Building and Urban and Urban Habitat, IL, USA)2012 NSW Architecture Awards Urban Design Award Sir Arthur G. Stephenson Award for commercial architecture 2012 Milo Dunphy Award for sustainable architectureDESIGNIngenhoven produced a design allowing w orkers and the public to see and feel the whole of the community of the building. 1 Bligh Streets elliptic geometry effectively resolves the sites urban condition at the meeting of two city grids. The ellipse is rotated on the site to encompass views to the harbour, thus solving the urban condition and maximising the buildings commercial value (). The disadvantage is that it is more costly to construct an elliptical building than a square building. However, this is make worthwhile by a magnificent curved atrium at the buildings core providing a sanctuary to its inhabitants.A naturally ventilated water system ice atrium climbs the full height of the building, providing a circulation of fresh air and a sense of nudeness on all floors. The glass provides dynamic views through the building making the atrium an arrival point for every floor, enhancing communication, connection and community.The buildings scale is broken in the centre by a large outdoor terrace cut into the floor pl ate at the lift transfer level. This space has been taciturn as its reception floor, making it one of the most spectacular and crotchety reception of any legal firm in the city. The terrace overly cleverly conceals the air intake for the air handling plant above, which is cover in a glass skin making it fully seeable within the building.At the top of the building, the inner glass shape peels away, creating a large outdoor timber terrace incorporating banksia trees. This creates the buildings fifth elevation which is sight by taller surrounding buildings.ENVIRONMENTAL THERMAL STRATEGIESCost effective and sustainable buildings have been a key focus in building design for years. Double skin faade systems are becoming increasingly uncouth in high profile buildings and are being enthused as an symbolical green building strategy. The system consists generally of exterior skins which respond dynamically to varying ambient conditions, which can incorporate a range of shading, natura l ventilation, and caloric insulation strategies.The overall purpose of the double skin differs from the unoriginal system used in European buildings where the intention is to trap the soup up by incorporating an extra thermal layer of air. The thermal skin of 1 Bligh is designed to keep the building cool. It does this by stopping direct cheerfulnessniness from hitting the internal glass. Between the inner and outer glass layers, outfit venetian blinds track the sun and automatically adjust to suit. The outer glass skin incorporates fixed horizontal ventilation slots at each level of the building to encourage upward airflow within the cavity which helps to force out unwelcome hot air. This flow is driven by natural vagabond since Sydney rarely experiences a completely still day. This result is that the internal skin will never be undefended to air temperatures that are vastly higher than the outside ambient air temperature. The outer glass layer also acts as a weather shi eld to protect the blinds from dreaded winds. The inner layer which is double glazed for world class thermal efficiency acts as a barrier against heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter, thus complimenting the benefits derived from the venetian blinds. http//www.architectus.com.au/sites/ carelessness/files/06_0.jpgOne of the major benefits of the double skin faade is that operable external blinds can be introduced which normally cant be installed on a high-rise, thus producing a shading coefficient of 0.15 with the blinds down and uninterrupted views when up. Reduced heat and optimised light is obtained as a result, underpinning high performance sustainability and unprecedented environmental innovation.It can be foreseen that double-skin faade systems require more cleaning than a single-skin glass faade, however the outer skin which is the only surface exposed to the elements, will only require six-monthly cleaning with minimal cleaning inevitable on former(a) surfaces. The ca vity between the skins is less vulnerable to environmental grime, and the gantry set up will significantly improve the upper berth and safety of the cleaning task.SUSTAINABILITYOverall, the key sustainability innovations which have been encompassed along with the double glass faade include, natural ventilation to the atrium, 40% recycled concrete, 90% recycled poise, FSC certified timber, recycled timber, solar cooling, tri-generation, minacious water treatment, rainwater harvesting, sewer mining.94% of the demolished buildings materials were recycled including steel and concrete (Horiso). An advanced hybrid of VAV and chilled beam air conditioning systems are run off a series of curved solar thermal collectors. The tri-generation system uses gas and solar energy to generate cooling, heating and electricity. The black water recycling method, which is the first to be used in an office tower, reduces the overall water consumption throughout the building with some of the recycled wa ter being used for irrigation. Recycled rain water is also used for irrigation.http//www.architectus.com.au/sites/ disrespect/files/04_1.jpgThe sustainability features of 1 Bligh Street result in the lowest operating costs of a premium grade building in Sydney, equating to estimated savings of approximately $2 million per annum (Horiso).CONSTRUCTIONThe inner skin was constructed of high-quality, double-glazed windows, while the outer skin was constructed of single-sheet laminated glass. A 600mm cavity between the two skins provides the need space to accommodate the automated venetian blind system, as well as walkway gantries at each level of the building for approach by cleaners and maintenance personnel. 1780 blinds were used in total http//www.architectus.com.au/sites/ inattention/files/05_0.jpgThe construction process took ten years to complete. Where normally one subcontractor deeds the building perimeter, Grocon had three to coordinate the faade contractor, the waterproofers and the blinds contractor.GLASS TYPEOffice buildings typically incorporate some form of tinted or reflective glazing in order to minimise the amount of direct sunlight and heat first appearance the building. The trade-off is a darkened or pearlescent finish that can visually isolate the occupants of the building from the natural environment and create undesired reflectivity, particularly at night, when the inner glass can resemble a mirror.The Bligh Street glass, supplied by G. James, has a 62% Visual Light transmission system (VLT), compared to normal office glazing specifications of approximately 25 40%. In other words, onlookers will be struck by the crystal clear views into the building meantime, the occupants will experience true-to-life panoramic views of the harbour and the citys genuine colours. This is because the sun protection is very efficient, and therefore non-tinted glass could be used on the outer skin. This makes the building extremely transparent and offers th e user a varied experience.CONCLUSIONIn conclusion, it can be seen that building strategies such as the double faade system, can be adapted to suit a specific climate while maintaining sufficient sustainability and economic properties. Similarly, glass as a building material can be used in many applications not only for aesthetic purposes but also for a thermal and sustainable strategy. 1 Bligh Street may be the low gear of an effective double glass faade system which will be implemented on high-rise buildings throughout Australia.